Simpsons Scoreboard - Season 1
Episode 1: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire: Admirable This is probably the best way you can do a first episode. Since it is a Christmas episode, it's able to easily involve all of the characters and tell a heartwarming story without coming across as sappy or cliche. Episode 2: Bart the Genius: Okay At this point, the Simpsons writing was still trying to find itself. I feel very certain that they've reused this plot in the future and did it better. Episode 3: Homer's Odyssey: Okay Like the above episode, I think they've done this one better later on, so it's hard to look at this objectively when there are better alternatives. Homer feels like a failure so he tries to commit suicide and finds his place demanding more warning signs, which like the next episode seems very weird with Homer's character. Episode 4: There's No Disgrace Like Home: ....okay? This episode is really weird in hindsight. The plot is that Homer Simpson is embarrassed about his family so he sells the television to get family counselling. I can excuse it because the characters weren't set in stone at this point, but it's still very odd to watch. Episode 5: Bart the General Good It's a fun episode with a lot of good jokes and doesn't take the bullying thing too seriously. Episode 6: Moaning Lisa Great As the first Lisa centric episode it really delves into her character in a very nice way. The subplot with Homer and Bart is alright, but it doesn't go on too long. And yes, they would later use plots like this in terrible episodes to just steal sympathy for Lisa, but this time at least, it feels like they're just focused on telling a good story. Episode 7: The Call of the Simpsons: Great This is one of the most memorable episodes of season one for me because most of it takes place out in the wilderness, a unique location at the time. It's also pretty funny, and doesn't feel cluttered with three stories going on at once. Episode 8: The Telltale Head: Good This episode is alright. It's generally solid, but the bullies not being serious about wanting to remove the statue's head seems out of nowhere. It might have been for a joke, but I seriously think they should have foreshadowed a bit. Episode 9: Life on the Fast Lane Admirable My favorite episode of Simpsons season 1. It shows how really ahead of its time the Simpsons was and the writing in this episode is just spot on. Episode 10: Homer's Night Out Okay It's okay. They've done this kind of plot better. I know that that might not hold much water when looking at each episode on its own merits, but it's hard to do that when there are many better alternatives within the Simpsons itself. At the time, this was probably really great, but now it's just not very memorable. Episode 11: The Crepes of Wrath Debatable There is a lot I don't like about this episode. Bart is sent on an exchange program to France where he's picked up by two abusive wine makers that torture him relentlessly, up to and including making him drink antifreeze. Yes, Bart did a lot of horrible things in the beginning of the episode, but this karma trip went a little bit too far. The only thing saving it is the ending. The subplot doesn't make much sense. If Bart went to France, how did the Simpsons get a kid from Albania? How did the French winemakers get a kid if they didn't give a kid up? Episode 12: Krusty Gets Busted Great Watching this episode with a fresh perspective is very difficult because even if you've never watched this episode before so many future episodes are built on this one that you probably know the answer to the mystery. Luckily it's an incredibly solid plot. Episode 13: Some Enchanted Evening Atrocity I thought long and hard about this episode, but after three watches I decided that I had to call it an atrocity. If you didn't know, this was the first episode of the show produced and as such the art is really bad and really distracting. I could forgive that, but the plot is a mess. The Simpsons order a babysitter while Homer and Marge get out. This babysitter is a criminal, and yet still works with this organization. Throughout the episode the babysitter tries stealing things and tying up the kids who have done nothing in this episode. In the end, she gets away with it because Homer unties her and let's her go on her merry way. I was almost going to let this slide because no one really got hurt in the end, but it just gets more frustrating the more I see it. And the art is incredibly wonky and distracting. I can see why they waited until the end of the season to air this.